Back To The Start
by sugarhigh9394
Summary: Betrayed by someone they trusted, JJ, Reid, Derek, and Emily get a chance to change history. Before it happens. Dedicated to Whatif-ifonly. JJ/Reid, among others :)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This story is dedicated to the amazing Whatif-ifonly, whose masterpiece, The Road Not Taken, inspired this story. Thank you for being so supportive when I first came to you with this idea! **

**Just to warn you. This chapter is not happy. It is violent, and it was really hard to write, but it was necessary for this story to work. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.**

Prologue

July 2014

It was pure chaos. Bullets riddled the air, and explosions blasted from all directions. Emily Prentiss could do nothing but run and pray that she didn't get hit. She made her way through the madness, willing herself not to focus on the bodies littering the ground. She had already seen six of them, and she knew that the image was forever ingrained into her mind. The image of the lifeless bodies of Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia, Kevin Lynch, Erin Strauss, David Rossi and Aaron Hotchner. They had fallen at the beginning of this hellhole, slain by a person they believed to be their friend. Betrayed by someone they trusted.

Shaking her head to clear it, Emily focused on her two tasks. Stay alive, and find the rest of her team mates. She sprinted through the destroyed halls of the BAU, praying to whatever deity out there that she wouldn't find the bodies of Jennifer Jareau and Spencer Reid,. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man that had caused this destruction, and she charged at him. He was taken by surprise as she tackled him. As they struggled, he laughed.

"You trying to get the best of me, Emily?"

"You son of a bitch! I'll kill you!"

"No." He said, as he pulled his gun and shot her. "I will kill _you_."

As darkness closed in on Emily's eyesight, she heard two people screaming.

Her last thought was

_Thank god they're still alive._

* * *

JJ watched in horror as Emily was shot point blank in the chest. Her screams were only rivaled by those of the man strapped next to her.

The traitor got up off of the floor, smirked at Emily's prone body, and made his way to where he had tied the two remaining agents earlier.

"Finally, I get to do what I came for!" the man snarled.

"And what would that be, Jason?" Reid snarled right back.

"To kill you, of course. Why else would I strap you to a bomb?" Jason Gideon asked incredulously.

"Why are you doing this Gideon?" JJ asked with tears in her eyes "We trusted you!"

"I'm doing this because I had to." Gideon replied "I was always meant to do this."'

"Do what? Murder innocent people?" asked Reid

"NO, YOU STUPID BOY! I WAS MEANT TO ALTER YOUR LIVES!"

"What are you talking about?"JJ asked

"I changed your entire lives. I manipulated everything so that I would be in control. I organized every single victim that we _couldn't_ save. I organized your love lives. JJ, you were never supposed to be with Will. I changed that. I organized all of the agents that have been killed in action. I. Controlled. Everything."

"You bastard!" JJ screamed, all composure forgotten. "How dare you!"

"It's all moot point now. You are all going to die." with that, Jason Gideon pressed the timer on the bomb strapped to his former colleagues and walked out the door.

The timer started to count down.

10

9

8

7

6

"Spence?"

"Yeah, JJ?"

"I love you. I just thought you should know that."

"I love you too."

They both had tears running down their faces, and neither of them cared. This was the end.

5

4

3

2

1

As the timer hit zero, the bomb went off, and the BAU was no more.

**AN: [dodges tomatoes and pitchforks] There is a method to my madness! I know Gideon was extremely OOC, but that is how it had to be for this chapter. All will be explained in time :) **

**Please review! I need to know what you guys think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thanks to Thn0715, Scottie, Daisyangel, and, of course, Whatif-ifonly for the reviews. And thanks to everyone who followed and favorited!**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated!**

It was bright. So bright, that the four agents lying on the ground were nearly blinded. Slowly, one by one, they sat up. Confusion spread on all their faces as they surveyed their surroundings.

Finally, JJ broke the silence.

"Where are we?"

"I don't know, Jayje" replied Emily.

"Maybe this is the afterlife. I mean, we all did just die." Reid said.

"The afterlife? Really, Pretty Boy?" asked Derek.

"Dr. Reid is correct, in a way." said a fifth voice.

All four agents turned around to see a man standing there.

"Who are you? Where are we?" asked Derek.

"People refer to me as Fate." the man replied, "and you are hovering in the void between life and death."

"So, we're still alive?" asked Emily.

"Oh, no. You are all dead." said Fate. "I am keeping you here for another purpose."

"Which is..." JJ prompted.

"I want to give all four of you a second chance at life. At love."

"Why would you want to do that?" asked Reid.

"Jason Gideon was trusted with power. Too much power. It corrupted him, and he did things to=hat changed everything. Who you loved, who was murdered by an UnSub, who was killed in the line of duty."

"What does that have to do with you sending us back?" asked Derek.

"I want to send you back to when it all began. All four of you. You will have all of your memories from this life. I need you to change things. I need you to fix what Jason Gideon destroyed and prevent him from doing it again."

"If we do this," began JJ, "how will we know what to change?"

"Don't worry. Almost everything that happened in your lives was manipulated by Jason Gideon. You can now create your own destinies, without Jason's interference, if you can prevent it."

Fate paused, and let the agents absorb all of the information.

"I'll do it." said Emily.

"Prentiss - -" Morgan began.

"Derek, anything has to be better than this. We have nothing left to lose. We're all dead. If we can change things, I think we should."

"I was going to say that I'm going with you."

"I'm in." JJ said.

"Me too." said Reid.

Fate looked at them.

"This is an opportunity. For all of you. Don't waste it."

With that, Fate clicked his fingers and the four agents disappeared in a flash of white light.

"Good luck. You're going to need it."

**AN: EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!**

**The awards season is here! The final ballot for the 2012 Profiler's Choice Fanfiction Awards is now available on the Chit Chat On Author's Corner forum! Anyone with a fanfiction account can submit a ballot! **

**Also, the Christmas Fic Gift Exchange signups are open until October 31st on the CCOAC forum.**

**Details for both the awards and the Christmas fic exchange are on the forum :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Special thanks to Whatif-ifonly and LauraMaeH94! **

Jennifer Jareau jerked awake. She looked at her surroundings, and realized that she was in one of her old apartments. However, she didn't know _when_ exactly this was. So, she turned on the TV to watch the news.

"Good morning, DC. Today is Monday, September 20th, 2004..."

_'Shit' _JJ thought to herself. '_It's my first day at the BAU all over again.'_ She remembered what she had worn the last time around, technically 10 years ago.

_'I wonder how Spence and Derek are doing'_ she thought, before realizing a key detail from 2004.

_'Oh, God. Emily and Doyle!'_

* * *

Derek Morgan was awoken from his slumber by Penelope Garcia poking him in the shoulder.

"Hot Stuff, what are you doing sleeping here?"

"Wha- what time is it?"

"Almost 10. Geez, Derek. You didn't even go home last night."

"I guess I dosed off..." Derek looked around confusedly. _'What the hell day is it?'_

"Boy Genius!"

Derek was disrupted from his thoughts by Garcia shouting to Reid, who had just walked into the BAU bullpen, with his hair slicked back.

_'How far back are we?'_

Reid saw the unasked question in Derek's eyes.

"Did you know that four years ago, on September 20th, 2000, a MI6 Intelligence building was attacked by a Russian anti-tank missile?"

_'Ah, so it's 2004.'_

"No, I didn't Pretty Boy. Thanks, though."

The three agents were interrupted by Hotch coming into the bullpen and saying

"Everyone, conference room!"

After they had all filed into the room, Hotch spoke again.

"We have a new Media Liaison joining us today. She will be here in about an hour. I expect all of you to be welcoming and respectful am I clear?"

"Yes, sir." everyone replied.

"We are on paperwork duty for the next month. Apparently, Strauss hasn't been following protocol when it comes to how long a team is in the field at a time." Scoffs and snickers followed that statement. Erin Strauss hated Hotch, and everyone knew it.

"Um, Agent Hotchner?" A very young Agent Anderson looked into the room.

"Yes, Anderson?"

"Agent Jareau is here sir. The new Media Liaison?"

"Yes, bring her in here please."

"Yes, sir."

As JJ walked into the room, Reid couldn't help but remember one of the greatest days of his life, almost 10 years in the future.

**FLASHBACK – January 2014 (six months before Gideon's betrayal)**

_Reid stood nervously in front of the small house. He knew that his life would change drastically today. He would either gain a long-awaited love, or lose his best friend. He knocked on the door. As he waited he started to doubt himself **'What if she doesn't feel the same way? What if I lose her?' **Chickening out, he turned around to leave when the door opened behind him._

"_Spence?" JJ said, surprised as she saw Reid on her front porch, standing in the falling snow._

"_Uh.. Hi, Jayje... I... uh... I... I just wanted to... uh..." he rambled nervously._

"_Spence, do you want to come in?" JJ asked, worried about the way her best friend was acting._

"_Uh, sure. Yeah, that would be great." _

_Reid entered the home, taking of is coat and gloves as he did so. He followed JJ into her living room and sat next to her on the couch._

"_Spence, what's going on?"_

"_I... I have to tell you something."_

"_Okay."_

"_And I don't know how you're going to react."_

"_Spence, you can tell me anything."_

"_I'm scared to." _

"_Why?"_

"_Because I don't want to lose you. I would rather not tell you than tell you and lose you."_

"_Spence, what is it? You're not dying, are you?" JJ's fear had increased steadily as the conversation had transpired._

"_No! No, Jayje, I'm not dying."_

"_Well, then? What is it?"_

"_I..." Reid took a deep breath "I love you. I am in love with you. I have loved you from the moment you said 'It's nice to meet you, Dr. Reid.' and smiled at me on your first day at the BAU. I'm so in love with you that it hurts. Every time you walk into the room, my heart nearly stops. The year when you were at the Pentagon nearly killed me, because I rarely got to see you. You are my saving grace, Jayje. When I was focusing on getting sober after Hankel, I focused all of my thoughts on you because I wanted to be a man that deserved you. When you met Will, I was willing to stay on the sidelines because all I wanted was for you to be happy. But now, you're a single mother raising a young son, and I fall in love with you more every day. I couldn't wait any longer to tell you. I just... wanted you to know..." his confidence depleted, he risked a look at JJ, and saw tears streaming unhindered down her face._

"_Spence..."_

"_I'm sorry, Jayje. I'll just go." Reid got up to leave._

"_Don't." _

_JJ's voice was so soft, Reid almost didn't hear it._

"_What?"_

"_Don't go, Spence. Please."_

"_Jayje?"_

_JJ said nothing. She rose to her feet, walked straight at Reid, and gently placed her lips to his._

_Reid's genius brain took a few seconds to catch up._

"_Jay... you just..."_

"_Yes, I just kissed you, Spencer Reid. Because I love you, too." _

**END FLASHBACK**

"Everyone, this is SSA Jareau, our new Media Liaison. These are SSA Morgan, Technical Analyst Garcia, and Dr. Spencer Reid. You'll be able to meet the rest of the agents when they return from consults. As I told the others, we are on paperwork duty for the next month. That will give you enough time to become acclimated with the way we operate."

"Yes, sir."

"Agent Hotchner?" Anderson made another appearance.

"Yes?"

"Chief Strauss wishes to speak to you. Now, sir."

Hotch grumbled as he strode out the door. As soon as he was out of sight, JJ found herself enveloped in a hug from Garcia.

"I am so happy that you're here! I finally have another girl to talk to!"

"Glad I could be of service." JJ joked.

"Well, I look forward to working with you, Agent Jareau."

"Call me JJ."

"JJ, then. I must go tend to my tech babies." With that the whirlwind that was Penelope Garcia left the room.

JJ turned to look at Reid and Morgan, the only two left in the room.

"This is going to be interesting." JJ said softly. "Are we going to try to do something about Doyle?"

"We need to do something. We can't let Emily 'die' again. _I _can't let Emily die." Morgan said, emotion lacing his voice.

"We're going to need to meet somewhere to make a plan. We can't go into this blind." said JJ.

"I agree. How about my apartment?" Reid asked.

"Sounds good. Text me the address." Morgan left JJ and Reid alone. He knew they needed to talk.

"Are you okay, Jayje?"

"Yeah, Spence. I'm just worried about Emily."

"Me, too." Reid sighed softly "We really should get back to work before Hotch gets back or worse, Gideon. We can't have him getting suspicious."

JJ made to walk to her office, but stopped near the door.

"Spence?"

"What is it?" Reid asked.

JJ turned around, smiled, and said

"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Reid."

**AN: So sorry for the extremely long wait! Real life kicked my ass. In other news, I graduated with my first college degree. Even better news... I got accepted into the bachelors program! Thank you so much for all of the reviews, follows, and favorites :)**

**Please Review! I need to know what you guys think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Some Emily at the beginning of this chapter. :) Also, most updates will not happen this fast... I'm just on a roll this week :)**

Emily awoke to a heavy weight on her chest.

"Lauren! Lauren! Do you wanna play?" A small child's voice asked.

Emily's eyes shot open. A small boy with blonde hair and blue eyes was sitting on top of her.

"Declan?"

"Lauren, you silly! You fell asleep on the couch!" Declan giggled.

Emily smiled "So I did. What do you want to play?"

"Hidenseek!" Declan squealed as he ran off. "Count to ten, Lauren!"

"Okay! Remember the rules!" she called after him as she started to count. "One... two... three..."

As she covered her eyes and counted, dozens of thoughts flew through her head:

_'Shit, shit, shit. Of all the times we get sent back to, it has to be when I'm with Doyle? What am I going to do? I can't make Declan live in hiding again! I have no way to contact the others! What am I going to do?'_

Initial panic over, she quickly calmed down, knowing that freaking out could get her killed.

"... seven... eight... nine... ten. Ready or not, here I come!"

As she uncovered her eyes, she saw Declan hiding behind the table in front of her. She got up and gave chase.

"Aww, I'm gonna get you. I'm gonna get you."

"I don't see you! I don't see you!" Declan squealed, as he crawled on the floor.

Emily caught up to him.

"Aah! I'm gonna get you!" She laughed as she hugged Declan. Her laughter died off when she saw Ian Doyle watching them, with a smile on his face.

"Hi." Emily said.

"Louise." Doyle said "Come take your boy, please." After Declan left with Louise, Doyle turned to Emily.

"You ever think about that?" he asked her

"Having kids? It's a little hard with what we do, don't you think?" Internally, she was repeating a mantra _'Stay in character. Stay in character.'_

"Maybe you need the right man to do it with, and a son who's crazy about you."

Emily faked a shocked look.

"I... I thought... he was your housekeeper's."

"Louise raises Declan so no one can use him against me. But he's mine, and he needs a mother."

"Wait, you mean like adopt him?"

"That's exactly what I mean, Lauren. My son loves you, and he needs a mother figure in his life. Will you do it?"

Emily made a split-second decision, one that she knew would alter the course of her life forever.

"Yes. Yes, I'll adopt him."

* * *

The day passed slowly for the BAU team. As five o'clock finally rolled around, Hotch came out of his office.

"Go home, everyone. Enjoy the rest of the evening. Be here at 8:30 tomorrow."

None of the agent needed telling twice as they all collected their belongings and made their way home.

* * *

JJ, Reid, and Morgan sat in Reid's living room, each nursing a cup of coffee.

"What are we going to do?" JJ asked softly.

"I think we need to make a list, to keep track of who was killed, and who we end up saving." Reid said. "We have to be realistic about all of this. We're not going to be able to save everyone. It's impossible."

"What about Emily?" Morgan asked

"It's too dangerous to try to contact her. If Doyle ever found out... he would kill her with no hesitation" JJ said "We'll have to wait and see if she can contact us."

"I don't like it." Morgan said.

"None of us do, Derek, but JJ's right. If we contacted her, it would put her life at risk." Reid said sadly.

"There's another problem, too. If we are going to record information about who was killed and who we eventually save, we need somewhere secure to talk about it and store it. I mean, we can't meet at a coffee-shop to talk about this, and we can't do it at the BAU either." JJ said.

The three sat in silence, thinking of any possible solutions available to them.

Reid stood up. "I have an idea. Follow me."

JJ and Morgan followed Reid as he came to a door in the middle of his small hallway. He opened it to reveal an office of some sorts.

"What about this? It's in the center of the apartment, it has no windows, and I can easily install a electronic keypad so people can't get in."

"I think it will work." JJ said with a smile.

"Me, too." said Morgan "If you want, I can go buy a keypad now, so we can get started with all of this."

"If you want to, that would be great." Reid said. Morgan nodded and made his way to the door, grabbing his jacket and keys.

"Morgan!" JJ called. He turned around. "Use cash, the last thing we need is Gideon getting suspicious."

"Got it, Jayje. I'll be back soon." with that, Morgan was gone, leaving JJ and Reid to themselves.

JJ ran her hand through her hair, releasing a breath as she did so.

"What are we going to do, Spence?"

Reid looked at her.

"We'll be fine, Jay. We're going to use the office-"

"No, Spence." JJ interrupted him "I mean what are we going to do about us?"

Reid paused

"What do you _want_ to do?" he asked softly.

"Honestly?" JJ asked. Reid nodded for her to go on. "Honestly, Spence, I want to kiss you like there's no tomorrow. God, the _was_ no tomorrow. We were _dead_, Spence!" tears started to run down her face "We were_ dead_!"

As the last of her resolve crumbled, Reid grabbed her and hugged her, holding her as she cried.

"Shhh. Jay, it's okay. It'll all be okay." He rubbed a calming hand on her back, and eventually her tears subsided.

"Sorry." JJ sniffled.

"Jay, you have nothing to be sorry for. We've been through a hell of a lot in the past 24 hours."

"Thanks, Spence." JJ said, smiling.

"Oh, and Jay?"

"Yeah?"

"To answer your question... I think we could date, but not in public."

"Meaning?"

"Mini-dates. We could go over to each others apartments for 'movie night' or something like that for now, then eventually we could go on real dates. After all, we _did _technically just meet each other this morning."

JJ smiled.

"Spence, have I told you how much I love your genius brain?"

"Once or twice."

"Well, I'll say it again. I love your genius brain, Spencer Reid. And I love you."

Reid's smile lit up the room.

"I love you too, Jayje. Always and forever."

**AN: All together now... AWWWWWW!**

**Thank you so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites. **

**Please review! I want to know what you guys think. Did I portray characters correctly? Let me know! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Important AN at the end :)**

Morgan walked up the stairs towards Reid's apartment. He was worried. So many things could go wrong with their plan. If Gideon ever discovered what they were up to... Morgan shuddered. He didn't even want to entertain the possibility. He knew he was going to be haunted by his memories of what had happened on that day nearly ten years in the future. He had been helpless as he saw Penelope and Kevin brutally slaughtered, and Rossi and Hotch slain while trying to protect Strauss. It had all been in vain, though. Jason Gideon was determined to kill anybody he could. And he had succeeded.

Finally, Morgan arrived at Reid's apartment. He let himself in, and saw JJ and Reid asleep on the couch, JJ securely wrapped up in Reid's arms. Morgan could see the dried tear tracks down their faces, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to see that they had been crying. He didn't blame them in the slightest. From what he could gather, JJ and Reid had been the last two to die. Which meant that they had witnessed the deaths of their entire family. Morgan knew that as bad as his trauma had been, theirs was probably ten times worse. He smiled sadly, grabbed a blanket, and covered them both up. He put the keypads on the floor, and grabbed the small notepad by the phone. He scrawled a quick note, placed it near Reid's head, and left the apartment, being careful to lock the door on his way out.

* * *

Emily was wary of her surroundings. She knew that what she planned to do was risky, but she couldn't stand around and let Doyle ruin her life again. She quickly made her way to the payphone, and dialed a familiar number. It rang several times before someone finally answered.

"Hello?"

"It's me." Emily spoke softly into the phone.

"Well, isn't this a nice surprise. What can I do for you, Lauren?"

"I need you to get a message to Jennifer Jareau, Derek Morgan, and Spencer Reid. You should be able to find them easily. Tell them this exactly: the youngling will be safe, as will I. The game has changed. The Easter Bunny will keep you updated."

"And what do I have to keep them updated on?"

"We need to start the final plan now."

"And you want me to tell these people that?"

"They need to be there for the take-down, Clyde. Please trust me on this."

"I'll always trust you, Lauren. But how do you know these three are trustworthy?"

Emily thought for a moment, deciding that a half-truth was better than nothing.

"I've known them for a lifetime, Clyde. I would trust them with my life."

That seemed to placate the Senior Interpol Agent.

"Very well."

"Oh, and Clyde?"

"Yes?"

"Be discreet. They have a traitor in their midst." The last thing they needed was Gideon causing trouble. Too much was at stake.

"Lauren, you wound me. Discretion is my middle name."

"If they have a message for me, wait until I contact you again."

"Of course. Goodbye, Lauren."

As she ended the call, Emily sighed in relief. Soon, this nightmarish part of her life would be over. Hopefully, permanently this time around.

* * *

Sunlight streaming through the windows woke Reid up. He was surprised to see that he was still on his couch, and was even more surprised at the weight he felt on his chest. He looked down, and smiled as he saw JJ sleeping peacefully. Reid suddenly noticed a piece of white paper near his head. Carefully, as to not wake JJ, he picked up the note and read it in seconds.

_Pretty Boy and Pennsylvania,_

_Got back to find you two sleeping like a cutesy couple. The keypads are on the floor by the door. Call me when you want me to install them. See you at work._

_Morgan_

_Oh, and so you guys know, I will support your relationship, no matter what happens. It took you way too long to get together last time. I'm happy for you._

"Crap!" Reid said, startling JJ in the process.

"Spence, wha-" then she remembered what day it was, and where she was. She scrambled off the couch, and looked around for her cellphone. "What time is it?"

Reid checked his watch. "Just after 7:30. If we shower here, go get you some fresh clothes, and grab breakfast on the way, we should make it by 8:30."

"I'll shower first." JJ sprinted to the bathroom, leaving Reid to make a very large pot of coffee.

**AN: I just wanted you guys to know that no matter how long it takes me to update, I WILL finish all of my stories. That's a promise :)**

**Also, I ****know I owe several of you reviews on your own stories (you know who you are). I'm working on them!  
**

**Please Review! They make me write faster!**


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